Dreams Of Grey
by YesAnimeCharactersCanBeSexy
Summary: It’s been two years since DeepGround. A series of seemingly random events tie together to reveal a new threat, born of both old enemies and the dream of a madman. Now, nothing is black and white.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** This'll be a long one. Feedback is appreciated as always.

**Warning: Contains ****major**** spoilers for Before Crisis, Crisis Core, On the Way to a Smile and Dirge of Cerberus. Read at your own risk.**

**Rating**: Coarse language, some sexual scenes, and graphic violence

**Major Pairings**: Vincent/Yuffie, Cloud/Tifa, Cid/Shera, Aerith/Zack

**Note on Translations: **In some places I will be using Japanese to represent Wutainese. My Japanese vocabulary is a grand total of two words, so I am using online translators, and anyone who uses them will know how incredibly inaccurate they tend to be. I apologize to any Japanese speakers if I horribly mutilate your language. I assure you in all sincerity it is not my intent.

**Before Crisis Translations: **Courtesy of www _dot_ freewebs _dot _com _slash_ gunshotromance. I love you.

**Crisis Core Translations:** Courtesy of silenttweak _dot_ net. You can have my firstborn. No doubt it will inherit my impatience for not being able to wait until the English Crisis Core comes out in March.

**Dates:** "Era 20042011" means Nov 20, 2004. This is written in accordance with the style and year shown in Advent Children when they zoom in on Jenova's head. "11/20" is just month/date. 02h13: 2:13AM.

**Summary:** It's been two years since DeepGround. A series of seemingly random events tie together to reveal a new threat, born of old enemies and the dream of a madman. Now nothing is black and white. When the world descends into chaos, who can you trust?

_Sometimes one forgets how very rare it is to find things that are truly black and white, good and evil. They were all shades of grey, in this twisting dance of life._

**Dreams of Grey**

**Prologue**

**Era 20042011  
02h13  
Somewhere on the north continent**

She awoke very slowly, unaware that she had even been asleep. As her eyes opened a fraction, green light poured in, blinding her and making her slam her eyes shut again as pain lanced through her head. Clenching her teeth, she forced herself to open her eyes again. Once more, the green light stung her eyes, but she kept her eyes open and they adjusted gradually.

As she waited for her eyes to adapt, she began to take stock of the rest of her body. She felt numb, but she could faintly register feeling in her legs and right arm. Of her left arm, she could feel nothing.

She frowned, and found that the effort of doing so was incredible. She carefully worked her face into various expressions, straining as she attempted a smile, then a grimace.

Her face quickly tired, and she decided to give it up for the moment. Allowing her expression to become neutral, she turned her thoughts to her location. Everywhere she looked, she saw green, though she thought she could make out indistinct, blurred shapes of darker objects through the haze of emerald around her.

And it was everywhere, this greenness. She tried turning her head but found she was unable to. She realized, suddenly, that there was no feeling of gravity. She was floating, somehow. Whatever surrounded her kept her cushioned and unmoving, and caused no obstruction of her breathing. So what was it?

She struggled, searching for an answer. She should know, she felt, she should_ know_, but she couldn't place it. She couldn't place anything for that matter. Where she was, why she was here.

Who she was.

She realized this, and found she wasn't disturbed by it at all. And then the answer to her original question drifted to her from the depths of her consciousness, as if an echo.

_Mako._

The word, once she grasped it and tried to dissect it, overwhelmed her. With a spasm she fell back once more into oblivion.

**02h21**

A knock sounded on his door, interrupting his reverie.

He softly closed the book he was reading. "Come in," he called, his tone soft but still carrying.

Stevens entered, closing the door behind him.

"She woke up," Stevens stated without preamble, helping himself to a chair.

He sat up straighter, attention fully caught. "And?"

"As I expected, she's fallen unconscious once more."

"How long?"

Stevens frowned in thought, rubbing his chin. "The longest wait is over. Now that she's regained consciousness, maintaining it will get easier as time goes on." Stevens shot him a look. "You know she will still require weeks of physiotherapy. Her muscles are extremely atrophied, not to mention her mind."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Yes, I know. Take all the time you need to get her in working order again. Especially that mind of hers. How's the physical damage?"

Stevens shrugged. "Much of it has, for reasons even I do not fully understand, healed itself. We have various prosthetics ready to be fitted for her arm as soon she has recovered sufficiently."

He smiled slightly, pleased that she had finally woken and was in such good shape. "Do you still stand by what you said earlier about her psychotherapy?"

Stevens nodded firmly. "Yes. I'm sorry, but it's the only way to have full use of her knowledge."

He sighed, but nodded resignedly. It was worth the risk. He picked up the book again, handling it with care, a sign that the meeting was over. Stevens stood, nodding to him.

"I'll keep you informed."

"As I expected. Excellent work, Stevens."

"Thank you, sir."

"I'll drop by to see her myself eventually." Stevens tilted his head in acknowledgement and strode from the room.

His eyes followed him out, lingering on the door, before returning to the book. He wanted nothing more than to lose himself in its words, as he often did, but other matters called. He reached for the phone resting on his desk. A landline – cellular reception was notoriously poor this far north.

Dialling quickly, he waited. After two rings, it picked up.

"Sir," came the slightly accented greeting from the other end of the line.

"Where are you?"

"Junon."

"Ah, yes. How do things look there?"

"Still a lot of details to be ironed out, but certainly doable. They've slacked off since DeepGround, it seems."

"Good, good, as I expected. I need our latest update on recruitment numbers."

"Including minors?"

"Every last person."

"Last count was over the 25000 mark, over half of which are either youths or babes."

'Babe' was their slang for those without experience or useful areas of expertise.

"I'm impressed, Ivan."

"Just doing my job. Also, we recently got a recruit how might be of specific interest to you."

He raised an eyebrow, though Ivan could hardly see it. "I'm listening."

"Owns a cafe, and a bit of a coward. However, that SOLDIER you're worried about – this guy knows his son rather well, apparently."

He digested that news thoughtfully. Definitely something that could be turned to his advantage. "Again, Ivan, I'm impressed."

"Don't be. I had nothing to do with it. He volunteered. Seems he dislikes the SOLDIER as much as you do. Enough to join up, anyways. All I did was notice."

"Still, I appreciate the information. Ivan, that strike-team I've asked you to have ready. They must be rather impatient by now. Your best men, if I remember correctly?"

"That's correct, sir." A pause. "Does that mean she's awake?"

"It does, Ivan."

"Ah."

"Indeed. I need you and your team back here for a briefing. Before you go, get your recruiters reassigned to training those we already have. I want every man and woman to be able to handle a weapon with relative ease. I don't care what weapon, just train them. I want them ready in two months. And I assume there's no need for me to remind you that this is all to happen under the radar."

"Understood. I'll be there late tomorrow."

"Tomorrow then, Ivan."

"Sir."

He hung up, stroking the bridge of his nose pensively. Things were finally getting into motion now.

He felt little satisfaction at it. At least it was a distraction.

His eyes fell on the book. He dropped his hand to it, caressing the cover lightly as if the book was his lover. He still missed his original copy.

"In pursuit of this gift we take flight," he murmured quietly to himself, tracing the letters etched in the book's cover with a finger. As he reached the last letter, his face twisted into an expression of pain and hurt, and he removed his hand sharply from the book as if burnt.

He laughed to himself, scornfully. "For the price of my pride. Flight is no more for my wing has shattered. Isn't that right, Angeal?"

He turned away from the book. There were cities to purge, fields to burn.

Monsters to unleash.

Besides, he should visit his brothers. He needed them to be ready for their task ahead.

* * *

"In pursuit of this gift we take flight. For the price of my pride. Flight is no more for my wing has shattered." - _Loveless_, as quoted in Crisis Core.


	2. Chapter I

Chapter I

* * *

**Era 20041121  
07h04  
Shuto, Wutai**

Yuffie awoke to a shrill scream.

Swearing, she lunged for Conformer, which was resting against the wall next to her tatami mat. She ended up smashing her hand into her lockbox instead.

This elicited a new stream of curses as she withdrew her hand, nursing it. She was quickly distracted from the pain, however, as her bedroom door slid open and she was enveloped in a massive hug.

"Happy birthday, Yuffs! Twenty-one, can you believe it?!"

Yuffie winced, the shrill excited voice making her still awakening brain protest. She returned the hug hurriedly, wanting nothing more than to be free of it.

"Sun, kinda need to breathe here..."

The weight suddenly shifted and was gone, and Yuffie was left blinking owlishly into the suddenly brighter room. Across from her, sitting cross-legged on the floor with an almost painful smile on her face, was Sun. Yuffie glanced at her watch. Barely 7 AM, and Sun already looked perfect, hair neatly drawn back into an elegant bun, scarlet kimono smooth and glowing softly in the morning light.

Yuffie was used to that though. Sun had always managed to look like some goddess of beauty no matter what time of day it was.

Sun Nitoko was a year younger than Yuffie, and one of her best friends, as well as her longest. They had met when Yuffie was only four, Sun three. Sun was the daughter of one of the elite Royal Shields. Yuffie had been attempting to sneak out of the pagoda, intent to go and join the soldiers fighting for Wutai in the war, when she had bumped into Sun. Rather than turn her in, Sun had eagerly joined her as they made their way through the secret passages. They had almost made it outside Wutai when Yuffie's mother caught them. They both got an incredible scolding, giggled about it afterwards, and became fast friends.

Physically, they were practically opposites. Where Yuffie had her boyishly cut hair, short-shorts, tank-tops, violently coloured sneakers and no breasts worth mentioning, Sun had waist-length, silky black locks, wore traditional and beautiful kimonos, and was sporting a B-cup. Whereas nearly all of Wutai knew Yuffie to be quite the troublemaker – princess or not – Sun was the very embodiment of the ideals and expectations held for traditional Wutaian women.

Or so everyone else thought. Yuffie knew better. She wasn't the one who had stained all of Godo's clothes pink that fateful summer day a few years past. That was courtesy of the beautiful woman sitting across from her.

Yuffie shot her a sleepy smile, fighting a yawn. She stretched, but froze, her arms partially outstretched, as her sludgy brain finally recognized what Sun had said.

She stared at Sun, whose smile grew.

"I'm twenty-one," Yuffie stated, the words sounding odd to her in her disbelief.

Sun beamed. "You sure are. Know what that means?"

Yuffie gave her friend a dazed look. She tried to wrap her head around the implications. She had, of course, been fully aware that her birthday was today, and had been excitedly planning for it for months now. Still, now that it had actually arrived...

"It means I'm the official heir to the throne," Yuffie murmured. The implications of her statement made her feel slightly nauseous as she even tried to consider what that meant for her future. She had steadfastly ignored thinking about it for the last twenty-one years, but now she could ignore it no longer.

"Psh, forget that boring stuff. What it _means_," Sun said, shooting her a decidedly mischievous look and wiggling her perfectly plucked eyebrows, "is that you can now drink. Well, legally, that is." Seemingly out of nowhere she pulled out a bottle of _Nihonshu _with a flourish.

Yuffie glanced at the bottle, then looked back at Sun, raising her eyebrows.

"...It's 7 AM. A bit early, doncha think?"

"Yuffie, don't step on my dastardly plots. They're for your own good, you know," Sun replied, and she was already pouring a healthy measurement of the sake into two small bowls, which she had also somehow materialized out of thin air. "One drink, to your health." She handed one of the bowls to Yuffie, and kept the other for herself.

Yuffie eyed it hesitantly.

"You're gonna need all the extra stamina you can get for today," Sun pointed out.

Yuffie wrinkled her nose at the reminder. She didn't want to start thinking about all the ceremonies and political time-wasters she'd have to attend throughout the day. She grimaced, and threw back the _Nihonshu_ in one gulp, eyes watering slightly at the burn of alcohol.

She eyed the rest of the bottle, which tempted her innocently from Sun's side. She looked away, sighing. As much as she'd like to escape somewhere and spend the day pleasantly (and legally) buzzed with her best friend, today was about the honour and pride of Wutai, and that, no matter how unpleasant all the politics might be, was of the utmost importance.

Sun seemed to know exactly what she was thinking, as the bottle of sake and the two bowls quickly disappeared again. She gracefully got to her feet, reaching out a hand to help up Yuffie.

"Time to get you ready for your big day."

Yuffie took the outstretched hand and rose, rather less gracefully, to her feet, wincing as joints popped in protest at her sudden movements. "Oh yes, joy of all joys. My face is gonna fall off from smiling so much by the time night rolls around, you'll see."

Sun rolled her eyes at her. "Don't whine so much. It's unbecoming of Wutai's heiress. Besides, once your done all that bullshit you gotta stand through, we'll celebrate your twenty-first birthday like a twenty-first birthday is meant to be celebrated."

"Extremely wasted?"

Sun laughed, shrugging, but didn't disagree. "Go put on a pot of tea, I'll get all your kimonos ready."

"Thanks."

Yuffie sauntered to the kitchen, idly brewing a small pot of green tea. She did stretches as she waited, carefully and mechanically working out the usual morning kinks.

"How many kimonos do you need for today?" Sun called to her from another part of her house.

"Um...Six, I think." Yuffie grimaced. "Yeah, it's six."

Sun's head popped into the kitchen from around a doorframe. "I'm surprised you even have that many."

Yuffie shrugged. "I didn't until a week ago."

The teapot shrilled, clambering for attention. Yuffie turned to attend to it as Sun disappeared once more.

Pouring herself a small bowl of the tea, Yuffie padded towards her front door, throwing it open. She stepped outside, barefoot, breathing in the fresh November air, enjoying the various scents of autumn in Wutai. She sipped her tea as she looked out over the capital. Since it was a holiday, people were taking advantage of sleeping in before a long day of parties and celebrations, so the city was largely quiet, excepting the gentle breeze that fluttered a multitude of pennants. Various decorative banners, streamers, and Leviathan statues were strewn through the city. Yuffie's eyes started to water as she took in the myriad of colours.

Still, she felt an incredible sense of satisfaction. This was her Wutai, and today they celebrated her. She would make them proud.

Sun appeared behind her, carrying her own miniature rainbow of colours in the form of various kimonos.

"The emerald and gold one first, right?"

Yuffie grimaced as she surveyed the indicated garment. Satisfied or not, calling herself content with her own personal situation would be quite the stretch. The kimono, though undeniably beautiful, represented to Yuffie all that she had longed to escape from as a child. All that she still longed to escape from.

She sighed, grasping the proffered garment in one hand. She had a duty to her beautiful, proud, stubborn country, and she would not forsake it.

**19h42**

The day passed in a blur of painted-on smiles and with countless handshakes, bows, greetings, and introductions to people she would never see again. It was with a certain sense of relief that Yuffie finally was able to retreat to the fourth level of the pagoda for a supper with her father and the pagoda's guardians, as was the custom for royal birthdays.

_Custom_. Yuffie had heard enough about customs and traditions today to last a lifetime. She gave a small scowl as she neatly crossed her legs under her, royal blue kimono bunching up neatly about her seated form. She was longing for the day to just end so she could meet up with Sun and just _relax_.

But first, there was one more ceremony to sit through and attend. The first round of tea was being passed out, served to the six seated at the low table; Shake was to the right of Chekov, and across from them sat Gorki and Staniv respectively. At the end between Chekov and Staniv sat her father, while Yuffie was seated at the opposite end.

Yuffie studied Godo from behind her tea. He had been slightly off all day, shooting her unfathomable looks that made her stomach tighten with unease. He seemed fine now, however, as he debated one of the finer aspects of wushu with Chekov. They were discussing a complicated counter-move against a simultaneous attack from a pair of enemies; Godo had just asserted his view on the matter, and now Chekhov was arguing for her own method.

Yuffie gave a slight smile at the debate, but it slid off her face as Godo's eyes flickered to her once more. That unreadable look was still there, and Yuffie felt it promised nothing pleasant. Yuffie hurriedly put her tea back down, hands shaking very slightly as the feeling of unease she'd had earlier tightened her gut. She glanced back at Godo, but his attention was focused on Chekov once more, smiling and nodding pleasantly. Yuffie thought there was a slight tenseness in his jaw, however, and that he sat more stiffly than was natural. She looked at the other guests. No one else seemed to have noticed anything off about Godo's behaviour; perhaps she was just imagining it.

By the time the dinner was nearing its end, Yuffie had almost convinced herself that it was, in fact, her imagination, gut feelings aside. This was all trashed however, as Godo rose abruptly, causing a politely bewildered stop to the conversation about the small table. Godo smiled pleasantly, then looked at Yuffie. Despite the smile gracing his lips, his eyes were emotionless.

"If you'll excuse us, _meisei hogosha,_ I would like a few moments alone with our heiress, my beautiful daughter. I'm sure she wishes to retire to her own home after this is over, and there are some things I must speak with her about before she disappears."

The pagoda guardians all of course nodded or murmured ascent, and went back to their various discussions. Godo beckoned for Yuffie to join him, and, rather unwillingly, Yuffie rose and accompanied her father up to the fifth level of the pagoda.

Godo walked to the middle of the room, his back turned to Yuffie. He stopped in the center, and for a moment said nothing. Yuffie was on the verge of asking, rather rudely, "_What?"_, but Godo spoke before she could get it out.

"I want you to know, Yuffie, that I am very proud of you."

Yuffie's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Praise from Godo was something very rare. And something she had always desperately sought, though she'd never admit it to anyone.

"Thank you, Father," she managed past her astonishment, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Your dedication to Wutai is unparalleled by anyone else," he continued, turning to look at her.

Yuffie waited for a moment for him to continue, but he just stared at her. To Yuffie, it seemed as if he was taking in every detail about her, as if he would never have the chance to see her again.

"Thank you, Father," she repeated, giving an uneasy smile.

Godo turned away again, focusing on some point on the far wall.

"I'm afraid...I must ask you to show your love for our country once more."

Yuffie frowned, wanting Godo to just cut to the chase already. "Papa, what's the matter? You've been acting odd all night."

Godo turned, and she saw his jaw clench as he steeled himself for whatever he would say next.

"You need to marry, Yuffie."

Yuffie blinked at him. Godo stared at her. A grin started to creep across her face. Odd timing, perhaps, but it seemed her old man had finally developed a sense of humour. "Yeah, right, Papa-"

"I'm not joking, Yuffie."

The grin slowly dissolved from Yuffie's face. She looked at Godo in disbelief. "I need to marry?" she asked blankly, unable to comprehend what he was saying.

"Yes," Godo replied. Yuffie noticed, with an almost detached interest, how very old and..._fragile_, there was no other word for it - he looked at that moment.

She gave a slow shrug. "Okay, so I'll marry. I mean, I don't have a boyfriend at the moment, but there's this really hot guy who's a regular at Tifa's bar, and if you just give me a year or two to get to know him-"

"No, Yuffie," Godo interrupted. He sighed, and ran a hand across his face.

"You are expected to be married within the next three months, and to a man of Wutaian royalty."

Yuffie's jaw dropped. "_Excuse me?"_

"You are now the official heir to the throne, Yuffie. In the event of my death there will no longer be any regent taking over – you are of age, and therefore the throne is rightfully yours."

Yuffie narrowed her eyes. "I don't see what this has to do with me needing to have an arranged marriage in the next _three months_," she said, her voice lowering dangerously.

Godo closed his eyes for a moment. Opening them again, he made his face carefully expressionless, before responding.

"The people expect a...male presence, when it comes to the ruler of the country."

"What?" Yuffie's hands clenched into fists at her sides. "There's been plenty of woman rulers, what the hell are you talking about?"

"All the empresses were married to male Wutain royalty, Yuffie," Godo said rather desperately. "The people knew of the marriages, and saw the woman as a figurehead, not as the actual ruler."

Yuffie was dimly aware of the sound of her pulse beating loudly in her ears.

"You expect me to marry some random guy in three months based on some sexist custom?" she hissed between clenched teeth.

Godo just looked at her sadly. "Yes, Yuffie."

"That's fucking bullshit. Absolutely not," Yuffie spat, shaking with fury.

"You will marry, Yuffie. If there is no male presence it will cause unrest. Other royal clans will see it as weakness, there could be civil war-"

"I don't give a shit!" Yuffie exclaimed, waving a hand. "It's _marriage_ we're talking about here, Papa, my whole _life_-"

"I thought you loved this country," Godo said, his own anger beginning to show.

Before she even realized it, Yuffie closed the distance between them and slapped him, hard. The sound echoed in the deafening silence afterwards.

Yuffie could feel tears of frustration sliding down her cheeks. Her palm stung sharply from the force of the slap.

"How _dare_ you suggest I don't love Wutai," Yuffie hissed, her hand stinging from the slap. An imprint of a hand was slowly appearing on Godo's face, an angry red mark across his left cheek.

Godo wordlessly reached up to finger the imprint. For a moment he didn't react, then he dropped his hand to his side and straightened up, squaring his shoulders.

"You will marry, Yuffie," Godo said with a tone of finality. He met her angry gaze with his own hooded, determined stare.

Yuffie backed away from him slowly, shaking her head. "Not this, Papa, please, not this. I'll rule the country, I'll stop traveling, but don't ask this of me, _please_, Papa." The tears were running freely down her cheeks now, and she bit her lip, hard enough to taste blood.

Godo's expression did not change. "You must, Yuffie. For the good of Wutai." His expression softened very slightly. "May I suggest Staniv? His family is of a noble line, and he has proved himself countless times as a guardian of the pagoda."

When Yuffie said nothing to this, Godo looked away, and started heading for the stairs. He paused before he reached them.

"I'm afraid you can no longer leave the country, Yuffie. Wutai must protect its heir, at least until you bear children."

Yuffie felt like she'd been punched in the gut. "I can't even leave? You expect me to marry, and you won't even let me leave the country? You let me run around for years by myself!"

Godo turned back to her at this. "Because I was weak, and couldn't handle a rebellious daughter on top of attempting to keep Wutai afloat after the war." He held her teary, angry gaze unflinchingly. "You cannot leave, Yuffie. That is final."

Yuffie wanted to break down and cry, or put Conformer to work on the bamboo and rice paper walls. "But my birthday party with all my friends in Edge! They're like family, Papa, please, at least let me leave for that. Cid's coming tomorrow to pick me up..."

Godo made no indication that he had heard his plea and began to descend down the stairs.

Yuffie snapped, rage and frustration completely overriding her common sense.

"Mother would have never made me do this."

Godo froze, as did Yuffie. She would never have dared to say such a thing to her father in any other circumstance.

Later, she would realize it was mentioning her mother that had finally broken him.

Godo didn't turn around, but simply tilted his head to the side, so that Yuffie could see his profile, and the single tear that managed to escape his carefully constructed defenses running down his aged cheek.

"I was never as strong as your mother," he said softly. He was silent for a few moments, the abruptly added, "You may go to your party. You have a week after you leave to say goodbye to your friends. They are allowed to come visit you. When you return, we will discuss your suitors."

With that, he turned and left, leaving Yuffie feeling sick with her chaotic thoughts.

**11/22  
02h34**

"It's okay, Yuffs," Sun whispered, hugging Yuffie tightly.

Yuffie hiccupped, closing her red and irritated eyes. She had taken the secret passages from the pagoda back to her house, not wishing to face anyone. The ultimatum of her marriage weighed enormously on her, making her feel weak and nauseous.

And Yuffie hated feeling weak. It was the way she had felt when she had watched her mother die, and later Aerith.

She had arrived back at her home after wandering the passages for hours, where she had sank to the floor, hugged her knees to her chest, and made a futile attempt not to cry. Sun had found her an hour after that, and Yuffie, having a sympathetic ear, had sobbed out the whole story.

Sun was just as horrified as Yuffie at the forced marriage. She had nodded fiercely when Yuffie murmured, "This is too much, Sun, too much." Unlike Yuffie, Sun conformed with the expectations of Wutaian society, unwilling to deal with the snide comments and dirty looks that woman like Yuffie received, but only as far as outward appearances went. She and Yuffie were of complete agreement when it came to the ridiculousness of bigoted traditions.

Yuffie let out a long, shuddering breath, slowly excavating herself from the hug and wiping at her eyes. She looked up at her longest-known friend.

"Cid's picking me up tomorrow," she began softly. Sun nodded. Yuffie idly worked at a thread on her kimono, staring at the blue material but not really seeing it.

"I don't know if I'm coming back, Sun."

The words tasted foreign to Yuffie. Even considering her abandonment ofthe country she loved, that she would do anything for, horrified her.

Almost anything. She could not, would not, bring herself to dedicate her life to a man she did not even know for the sake of appearances and to appease a sexist tradition.

Yuffie looked up at Sun to see her reaction. Her friend held her gaze solemnly. After a few moments, she nodded, giving a sigh.

"Can't say I blame you."

Yuffie turned her gaze away. She absentmindedly smoothed down the thread she'd been picking at.

"He'll hate me," she murmured, almost to herself, giving a twisted smile. "Leviathan will hate me. Da Chao will hate me. All of Wutai will hate me."

Sun snorted derisively. "Not all of Wutai. I won't. And I don't think Godo will either. Besides, if anyone does, it's their own fault for being sexist pricks. And that includes Leviathan and Da Chao, gods or not."

Yuffie gave a weak smile, but it lasted only moments. Her eyes felt sore and dry, and she felt exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. Her eyes flickered to her watch, lying next to her bed.

She sighed, dropping her head into her hands. "Cid'll be here in seven hours. Once he arrives, I've got a week to decide whether to come back or not."

Sun just hugged her again. "You'll sneak back to visit me, right? 'Cause this place is going to be fucking boring without you."

Yuffie gave a snort of amusement. "Of course I will. I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie, after all." She didn't say it with much conviction, but Sun gave her an encouraging smile nonetheless.

"That's the spirit. Now get some sleep, I'll pack for you."

Too tired to argue, Yuffie just crawled to her mat, collapsing on it, and blessed unconsciousness rolled over her almost immediately.

**21h32  
Kalm**

Yuffie crouched in a deserted corner of the _Shera_, closing her eyes and groaning as the airship lurched, before touching down. She hadn't packed enough tranquilizers for the trip, not realizing just how _freaking long _it took to go from Shuto to Cosmo Canyon, where they had picked up Nanaki, then to Corel, where they were supposed to pick up Barret (only to discover he had already hitched a ride over several days ago), and then proceeding to Kalm to pick up Vincent before finally heading for Edge. Yuffie had run out of tranquilizers while over Costa del Sol, and had spent the last five hours puking into various containers. Birthday girl or not, Cid had banished her from being anywhere near the bridge, and Nanaki and Shera hastily came up with other more important places to be.

Yuffie put her head down, clenching her teeth as the airship lifted off once more. She hated travelling by anything bigger than a truck. _Another reason to not return to Wutai_, a little voice in her mind pointed out. She retched, the thought making her already roiling stomach heave with guilt. _Don't think about that right now _she told herself, reaching shakily for a bottle of water to rinse out the taste of vomit in her mouth.

Swishing the water around, she spat it out, wiping her hand across her mouth and sinking her head down to her knees. The airsickness on top of the stress of the last day was making her feel much older than she really was.

Through the haze of her illness she heard approaching footsteps, each step accented by the slight _clink_ of metal on metal. Despite her sorry state, she gave a weak grin, lifting her head up to peer at the approaching figure.

Staring wearily through her bangs, most of which were sticking to her sweaty forehead despite her headband, she raised a hand and gave a half-wave.

"Hiya, Vinnie."

"Hello, Yuffie," came the growly reply, as the red-cloaked gunman stopped a few feet away from her. Yuffie glanced up at the crimson eyes peeking over the cowl of the cloak, seeing Vincent studying her, eyebrows narrowed slightly.

"Celebrating your birthday in style, I see," he said dryly with a gesture of his golden gauntlet at the surrounding buckets.

Yuffie gave a half laugh. "You know me, I love airships." She made herself focus on the ex-Turk, and managed a genuine smile. "Good to see ya again, Vinnie. Been foiling any evil masterminds lately?"

Though she couldn't see it, she knew he had given that small, quirky smile of his behind the cloak. He kneeled down, pulling a pack off his shoulder and opening it.

"I'm afraid you've scared them all off."

Yuffie started to grin, but it turned into a grimace as her stomach rolled. She reached hurriedly for a bucket, heaving. It was mostly dry-heaves now, any substance in her stomach long gone. As she waited shakily for the nauseous feeling to ease, she gave a humourless laugh.

"I'd be running to if I was about to get puked on."

She heard Vincent give a slight sigh. "You didn't pack enough tranquilizers, did you?"

Yuffie shrugged, looking at him. "How'd ya guess?"

Vincent raised his eyebrows. "You never do." He pulled something from his pack and handed it to her.

"Consider it an early birthday present."

Yuffie snorted as she removed the tranquilizer from its packing. "Thanks, Vince. Really," she added, looking up to smile at him. She downed the tranquilizer, wrinkling her nose against the sour taste, and closed her eyes, leaning back as it instantly began to take effect.

"So," she said, eyes still closed. "How's actually aging working for ya?"

She heard a slight rustle of clothing, indicating a shrug. "I haven't noticed any difference, to be honest."

With Chaos returned to the lifestream, Vincent was no longer possessed of the immortality that had been his for over thirty years. He had celebrated his first real birthday in several decades thirteen months ago, last October. Yuffie blinked her eyes open to study her friend. Even with Chaos gone, Vincent looked the same as always. Pale, stoic, and lean.

"Don't worry, Vinnie, you're still as ugly as ever," she reassured him, feeling much better now that she was free of the airsickness.

Vincent just stared at her and rose to his feet, extending a hand to her to help her up. Yuffie took it, hauling herself to her feet, swaying unsteadily as she straightened. Vincent held onto her until she had gotten her balance once more, when he released her hand.

"Speaking of ugly, you might want to get yourself cleaned up before we land and have your birthday party. We'll be arriving in Edge in under twenty minutes."

Yuffie stuck a tongue out at him in defiance, but judging by how sticky she felt with sweat and the faint smell of vomit on her clothes, she thought Vincent was quite right. She gave a nod, perking up slightly at the thought of the party that awaited her.

"Right, off I go then," she said as means of farewell, heading off abruptly towards her cabin. Behind her, Vincent called out.

"And drink some fluids, please. You are dehydrated."

She waved a hand to show she had heard, not turning around. She slowly made her way to her cabin, brushing her hands over the corrugated steel innards of the ship as she descended down the various hallways. Arriving shortly, she washed her face, revelling in the feel of the cold water on her hot skin. As she started changing into a new set of clothes, she felt the ship begin its descent to the outskirts of Edge.

She enjoyed the feeling of descent, free of the usually present nausea. Her thoughts drifted back to Vincent. She was glad to see him again; they had always been friends (though he had, for some time, denied it, but Yuffie knew better), since they had always gotten stuck together during the hunt for Sephiroth, and the DeepGround incident had drawn them even closer. She didn't get to see him as much as she liked, mainly due to the fact she'd spent the a large chunk of the last two years learning some of the necessities of ruling a country, lessons she had neglected in her youth, and because Vincent was often away doing work for the WRO when she managed to get any free time.

She scowled, the thought of her status as heiress scattering the pleasant thoughts about her friend. She took a deep breath, attempting to dispel the unwelcome wonderings.

The ship lurched once more as it touched down, and the dim, ever-existent sound of the engines began to die down. Yuffie straightened herself up, and grabbed her bag with one hand, slinging it over her shoulder and heading towards the exit.

It was time to stop moping and to start partying.

**22h08**

Yuffie strolled up to the entrance of Seventh Heaven, whistling as she followed Nanaki's bobbing flaming tail. She was back to her usual boisterous self; she had taken a moment before getting off the _Shera_ to take a deep breath and slip on her mask of loud, outgoing cheerfulness, having no intention of including her friends in her present dilemma. It was her own decision to make. Until she made it, her friends would have to remain in the dark. Yuffie found it easy to act carefree – partially because she was about to spend a night drinking and rocking with some of the best people on all of Gaia, and partially because she had plenty of practice in using a cheerful front as a defence against being open with others.

Skipping ahead of Nanaki, she barged into the bar, ignoring the 'Closed' sign hanging from the door. Throwing her hands up dramatically as she entered the shaded room, she began to screech at the top of her lungs, grinning maniacally at the various people in the room.

"WHERE'S MY FANFARE, HM? I EXPECTED TRUMPETS AND RED CARPETS PEOP-"

The rest of her speech was interrupted as she was suddenly swallowed in a massive bear hug and lifted into the air. She squirmed, kicking her legs futilely.

"BARRET YOU FRICKIN' MARSHMALLOW, PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!"

She pointed into the dark-skinned man's face for emphasis, beaming at him. Barret returned the grin.

"Awright, down ya go then," he said, and promptly dropped her, so she ended up rather painfully on her bottom. The indignant glare she shot him was ruined by the fact her own lips betrayed her as they kept twitching up into a smile.

"AUNTIE YUFFIE!" shrieked a high-pitched voice, and Yuffie was tackled by a flying Marlene, who wrapped her arms around Yuffie's neck in a grip that tried to imitate Barret's.

"Hey, kiddo," she grinned. "Been practicing your wushu?"

Marlene nodded emphatically, gesturing off to another area of the bar.

"Yah, me 'n Denzel have been practicing lots and lots!"

Yuffie looked over to where Marlene had gestured, seeing the aforementioned Denzel standing there, hands in his pockets, looking torn between throwing himself at Yuffie in a flying tackle as Marlene had done and maintaining his image of cool, distant teenager.

Yuffie grinned. She understood what he was going through. Gently depositing Marlene, she strolled over to Denzel.

"What's up, Denz?" she asked, holding out a fist. Grinning, Denzel punched it.

"Not much. Happy birthday."

"Thanks." She looked up as a quiet cough sounded.

Cloud was standing there, a pouting expression on his face. He held up one fist.

"Do I get to punch it too?"

Yuffie laughed, knocking his hand aside and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Cloud gave her a returning squeeze, and she pulled away, looking up at the blonde. Cloud smiled down at her, rustling her hair. Batting his hand away, Yuffie thought that it was nice to see him smiling so easily again.

"Hey now, don't hog the birthday princess," came a drawling voice, and Yuffie craned her head around Cloud to see Reno sitting casually on one of the tables, hair its customary shocking red, goggles in place. Next to him sat Rude, sunglasses on, and behind them, lounging comfortably in chairs, were Elena and Tseng. She slowly wandered over to them, eyeing them all critically, looking them up and down with a snobby air.

"I don't recall inviting four stuffed turkeys to my birthday," she stated, straining to keep a straight face.

Rude, piercings glinting, shrugged. Reno just gave a cocky grin, while Elena smiled. Tseng rose, and bowed in the traditional Wutaian style before her, bringing both hands flat against each other in front of his chest.

"May Leviathan smile over you and offer you many new years, Lady Kisaragi," he said, reverting to his native Wutaian tongue. As he straightened from the bow, he met her eyes.

Yuffie felt a slight jolt, but she managed to maintain her smile. She could tell immediately, as their eyes met, that Tseng was very much aware of Wutaian traditions. He offered her a small smile, and she gave an almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgement, and of thanks. He would tell no one, she instinctively knew.

A pair of arms snaked around her from behind, and she was pulled back to lean against a hard, muscular chest.

"Hi Reno," she smiled mischievously. She wiggled around so she was facing him, ignoring their extremely close proximity.

Reno gave her one of his trademark grins.

"How ya doin', babe?"

Yuffie stood on her tiptoes, giving him a swift kiss on the cheek. Pulling away, she wrinkled her nose at him.

"Better now that I'm not dating you, thanks."

Reno chuckled. Yuffie's smile grew. They had started dating shortly after the DeepGround incident, and holy Leviathan it had been fun. It was an on-and-off relationship for a number of months that eventually fizzled out into a strong friendship. Yuffie was extremely grateful her first relationship had left her no regrets.

"That hurts, ya know," Reno said, putting on a hurt puppy-dog look. Yuffie just reached up, grasping his goggles, and pulled them back before releasing them, resulting in them springing back and slapping Reno loudly in the forehead.

Yelping, Reno immediately let go of Yuffie, hands flying to his stinging forehead, glaring at her. The rest of the room erupted in laughter, and Yuffie exchanged a high-five with Rude and a knowing smile with Elena.

"I'm afraid I don't allow any violence in my bar," came a soft, teasing voice behind her.

Yuffie turned, confronted by Tifa, dressed in her customary leather, hands on her hips, shooting Yuffie a mock glare.

Yuffie mimicked Tifa's pose, raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it?"

Tifa's jaw worked furiously as she attempted to withhold her smile, but needless to say she failed miserably.

"Pancake," Tifa nodded at her.

"Boobs," Yuffie returned, nodding back.

They both burst into giggles at the same time and ran forward to share a tight hug. Yuffie felt her pretence of happiness becoming easier and easier to maintain, surrounded by friends as she was.

A moment later, drawing away from her best friend, she looked around, missing someone.

"What, no Reeve? And where's Shelke?"

"Reeve'll be coming soon, he had a busy day apparently. I'm not sure if Shelke is coming, she's still a bit on the serious side," Tifa responded. The bartender headed over to the door, picking up Yuffie's bag which had been discarded upon her arrival. She tossed it to the ninja.

"The usual room," she said, gesturing to the stairs. Yuffie nodded, heading up the stairs, leaving the people down below to greet the other new arrivals.

**22h56**

Yuffie knocked back another shot, eyes tearing as the whiskey burned her throat. Cheering erupted around her, and she was given a hearty pat on the back, probably from Reeve, who had arrived just minutes ago.

She was currently engaged in a drinking contest with Cid, something she'd been longing to do for a very long time now, convinced the pilot was all talk. It turned out he actually could hold his liquor, though he was very red in the face and kept stumbling over his usual cusses, while somehow managing to maintain hold on a cigarette even as he drank.

Across the bar counter from her stood Tifa, who watched, amused, clapping for Yuffie. With an arm around Tifa's shoulder stood Cloud, who was laughing, mako blue eyes shining with amusement. Yuffie stared at them for a moment, head swimming, feeling a stab of jealousy that they had been allowed a choice in who they spent their life with. She pushed it aside quickly, however, frowning deeply. If anyone deserved some happiness, it was Cloud and Tifa. She was their friend; Tifa was like a sister to her, Cloud an annoying big brother. She should be wishing them well and making rude jokes about their sex life.

To her left sat Reno, who was observing the contest while knocking back drinks of his own in a contest with Rude. She gave him a thumbs-up, which he returned, throwing in a cheeky wink. Next to her, Cid banged down another empty shot glass, giving a loud belch before grabbing an observing Shera, who gave a very non-Shera like shriek and giggle (thanks to her own liquor consumption, no doubt) and kissed her soundly, if rather sloppily.

Abruptly, any joy she'd gained through the night disappeared. Watching Cid and Shera share a smooch was even worse than seeing Tifa and Cloud so casually touch each other. Maybe it was the fact that the pilot and the engineer were married; maybe it was just the alcohol choosing that moment to affect her mood. Yuffie had no wish to pick her own brain, and all she knew was that her stomach suddenly felt filled with lead.

Pushing away the shot Tifa had poured, she yanked away from the table, falling over her own chair. This garnered a roar of laughter from the group, with the exception of Tifa, who looked slightly concerned. Vincent, Yuffie also noticed vaguely as she started to haul herself off the floor, was not laughing either, but rather eyeing her with slightly narrowed eyebrows.

"Wha's'a matter, brat, you done alr'dy?" Cid slurred, grinning, his arm wrapped around Shera's waist.

Yuffie didn't respond, preoccupied with the sudden urge to get to a toilet so she wouldn't end up vomiting all over Tifa's floor.

Apparently Tifa gathered this, for she disengaged herself from Cloud's hold and started heading over to Yuffie.

"C'mon, Yuffs, I'll help you to the bathroom."

Yuffie clumsily allowed Tifa to drag her to her feet, the room spinning around her. She dimly registered various comments being thrown about the room.

"C'mon, Rude, stop stallin' 'n drink, you pussy," came Reno's voice.

"'Nother glass, Red?" boomed Barret. Yuffie glanced in his direction dazedly, giggling despite her rolling stomach as Nanaki wrapped his mouth around a full shot of something, throwing his head back and drinking it down before spitting out the glass.

"Thank you, Barret," Nanaki nodded at the dark-skinned man across the counter from him. Yuffie noted, rather enviously, that he didn't sound the least bit drunk.

"Well, looks like Yuffie's fun for the night is over."

Yuffie planted her feet unsteadily under her, halting Tifa's attempt to drag her towards the bathroom, as Cloud's voice drifted over the noise and music of the party.

"Whadya say?" she slurred, squinting at the blonde.

Cloud gave a grin. "From the look of you, you'll be spending the rest of the night over the toilet and wake up tomorrow with one helluva headache."

Yuffie began to chuckle. Others around her began to titter as well, but they died down as Yuffie's laughter grew, becoming distinctly bitter sounding.

Yuffie felt a completely irrational surge of anger and hopelessness pulse through her as she laughed. She was dimly aware of everyone staring at her, but she didn't care.

She took an unsteady step towards Cloud, who looked very taken-aback.

"_Fun_, you said?" Yuffie laughed again, her head swimming with alcohol and emotion. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Vincent rise to his feet quietly. She ignored this, focusing on the swordsman before her.

"Lemme tell y'all about what a fun time I had on my birthday."

The room was completely silent now, except for the music, its bass pounding in time with Yuffie's head.

"My father, the _great Emperor,_ guess what he got me for my big, special day." Her head swivelled about, almost comically, her gaze going from person-to-person. No one said a word. Cid's cigarette, she noticed, had finally dropped out of his mouth.

"What, no takers? _C'mon_, you guys can do better than that," she taunted, giving a twisted smile. When there was still no word from anyone, she shrugged.

"Alright then," she said. "I'll just tell you, hmm? My father, for my twenty-first birthday, got me an arranged marriage." Around her, eyes widened and jaws dropped, though the silence continued.

Yuffie started laughing again, and her cheeks were oddly wet. "I know, I know, best gift ever, right? He takes me aside after dinner, on my birthday, see, he takes me aside and says, 'Yuffie?'" She pauses for effect, feeling rather like she's performing in a play, a tragedy, and the audience is absolutely riveted with morbid fascination.

"'Yuffie, because I'm so generous and great, I'm going to give you a whoppin' three months to marry a man of Wutaian royalty. And on top o' that, you don't get to leave the country until you pop out some babies.'" Yuffie, who had been speaking in an airy, staged whisper, was dimly aware that the volume of her voice has started to rise. "'Oh, and the reason you have to marry is because our great and beautiful customs that are incredibly sexist say there must be at least a guy _pretending_ to fuck you.'" The stares around her have stopped being surprised, and instead turned to varying states of pity, disgust, and anger. "And on top of that –" Yuffie's shouting now, but she feels no inclination to stop her rant - "My father says to me, to _me_, that if I truly love Wutai, I'll do this. He dared, he _dared_ to suggest that I don't love my country!"

The room was spinning wildly, faces blurring together in a kaleidoscope of shapes and colours. Yuffie hurriedly put a hand up against the wall to steady herself. The urge to puke suddenly returned tenfold, accompanied by the need to escape from the pity-filled looks her friends where giving her. She spun, trying to make her way up the stairs.

Her foot caught the lowest step, and she fell. The alcohol finally took over and granter her blessed unconsciousness before she hit the stairs.

* * *

Tatami – Japanese flooring mats, also used for bedding. 

Shuto – bask in my creative genius. Literally means 'capital' in Japanese, and is used in this story to represent (dur) the capital of Wutai, which I am basing on the Wutai as seen in FF7.

_Nihonshu _and _sake_ – _Sake_, while it means a specific Japanese alcoholic beverage(a rice wine) to English speakers, actually represents a whole range of beverages in Japan. _Nihonshu_ is the 'actual English _sake_'; it is specifically rice wine in Japanese.

_Meisei hogosha_ – literally 'honour guardians'

The secret passages that Sun and Yuffie ran through: Originally seen in _FF7_, though there is only one at this time. In _Before Crisis_, the Player runs through a number of secret passages throughout the pagoda.

Wushu: It is mentioned in _On the Way to a Smile: Case of Barret_, that Yuffie is teaching the children of Wutai wushu. Wushu is a general Chinese term for traditional martial arts. Search it on youtube if you want to see what it's like (it's absolutely nuts, btw).

Predicted update: 10 days


	3. Chapter II

A/N: It's been...a very, very long time since I updated this, and I apologize. No excuses. Please don't hate me? I'll give you cake!

Just so you know, I've decided to make a couple style changes, namely that I won't have headings with times and places anymore because I was trying to calculate and allow for timezones and it just ended up giving me a big headache and it really isn't necessary. I'm also going to decrease the length of my chapters – I was originally aiming for long chapters of ~8000 words each, but I'm cutting that in half in the hopes that it'll make me update more frequently.

I don't own _Transformers_ or _The Wizard of Oz_.

* * *

**Chapter II**

* * *

He stared up at the sky. It was an overcast night, the clouds dark shadows, but through gaps he could see a magnificent meteor shower. His old bones were protesting at being up so late and from lying on the hard rock for so long, but he smiled, more than used to their complaints and very skilled at ignoring them.

He heard quiet, unhurried footsteps behind him, and he started sitting up to greet the person, undoubtedly a member of the canyon city. Half way into a sitting position, a primal, animalistic fear twisted in his gut, the feeling so abrupt it made him choke on his own breath. The feeling dissipated as suddenly as it came, leaving a faint aftertaste of bile. His heart was pounding in his chest, sweat cooled on his skin, and he noticed the footsteps had stopped.

A gloved hand clamped over his mouth, and he struggled wildly, yelling into the hand and trying to bite down, twisting and turning. He stopped, seeing a blade glint dully in the darkness centimetres from his face.

"Good man," said a voice quietly, low and faintly accented. "I have some questions for you. If you answer them, I will not harm you or any other resident of the Canyon. If you do not, I will kill you and move on to the next person. If you attempt to escape or cry for help I will kill you and move on to the next person. Nod if you understand."

Swallowing, he bobbed his head. The hand was removed but the blade stayed in front of his face, waving back and forth tantalizingly.

He answered all the questions the man asked, and his eyes never left the hypnotic dance of the blade in front of him. After what seemed an eternity, the blade stopped moving, lowering away from his face.

"Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. You saved many lives tonight."

The blade slid smoothly up and under his ribcage, piercing his heart.

He saw a flash of amber as he slumped back, staring at the sky.

The meteors streaked by, heedless of the snuffed-out life far below.

* * *

Yuffie awoke with a dry mouth and a _really big fucking headache._

"Owww," she mumbled, turning over so her face was buried in the pillow, as if the fluffiness would somehow ease the tempo currently beating against the inside of her skull. She'd had her share of hangovers, but this one definitely cut the cake.

Images from the party the night before slowly flashed inside her muddled head. Reno doing a drunken dance...Reeve laughing, red in the face...downing shot after shot in her contest with Cid...

Her eyes flew open as she flipped onto her back, only to immediately shut again as the light assaulted her already aching head, but the light didn't wash away the suddenly vivid memory of her blurting out everything to everyone.

"Fuck!" she whisper-yelled, burying her face in her hands. "Fuckfuckfuckfuck_fuuuuuck_ why the hell did I say all that?" _Stupid, stupid Kisaragi! This is your problem, not theirs! _

Groaning, she smacked herself in the forehead. Maybe she should run away before anyone else woke up so she wouldn't have to deal with what would undoubtedly be a week full of pitying and sympathizing friends. _It's my problem, dammit, I'll deal with it by myself._ _Stupid, stupid me!_ She peeked open an eye to check the clock resting on the nightstand.

One o'clock in the afternoon. There was almost no chance of her sneaking out undetected. Everyone else – maybe excluding Cid and Reno – was undoubtedly already up and about.

She contemplated just hiding in her room for the rest of the week, but she was surprised Tifa hadn't checked in on her yet and had no doubts that the barmaid would not wait much longer to do so. Besides, her headache was demanding ibuprofen. No magic hangover cure for her today, she felt way too down and exhausted to use materia. And she'd be damned if she asked anyone else for a Cure or Esuna.

_Maybe I can just pretend I don't remember anything from last night,_ she thought as she slowly started getting dressed, her usual outfit feeling almost painfully tight. She dismissed the notion quickly; no doubt someone would bring it up whether she mentioned it or not.

Grabbing her headband from where it had been discarded haphazardly on the floor, she cautiously opened the door and squinted into the hallway. There was no one in sight, though she heard the faint tinkling of dishes and unintelligible murmuring coming from downstairs. _Likely the lunch crowd_. She made her way to the bathroom, softly closing the door behind her.

Popping open the cabinet, she grabbed some painkillers, taking out two and dry-swallowing them, scrunching up her face slightly at the taste. Closing the cabinet, she glanced at the mirror, but after taking one look at the massive bags under her eyes she looked away. No doubt she would scare small children, but she just couldn't bring herself to care.

Padding her way out of the bathroom, she tied her headband haphazardly in place. Maybe she could sneak out during the rush of the lunch hour. It was worth a try, at least. She descended cautiously down the steps, and as she reached the bottom received an unpleasant surprise.

The lunch crowd was, in fact, made up of everyone who had been at her birthday party the night before. A quick glance at the door confirmed what she had already concluded – Tifa had actually closed the bar.

She turned her eyes back to the room. The chatter she had heard upstairs had completely died down to leave a stifling silence in its wake. Nearly everyone was staring just above her head or at the floor, with only a few exceptions. Cloud was scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, but met her gaze cautiously. Tifa was staring at her with an almost painful intensity, and Reno's gaze was sharp, meeting her eyes unflinchingly. Only Vincent and Rude looked normal; Rude's face unreadable as always, his eyes hidden by his sunglasses, and Vincent watching her calmly from the corner, his nose and mouth obscured by his cloak.

The silence made her bristle with annoyance. Scowling, she crossed her arms and slouched against the door frame.

"A '_good morning, Yuffie'_, would be nice, ya know," she snapped, regretting her tone almost as soon as the words left her mouth but far too annoyed with herself and with them to apologize. She wished the painkillers would kick in already, as her headache seemed to feed off the awkward silence in the air.

"Yuffie..." Tifa started, but her gentle tone instantly had Yuffie on the defensive.

_I don't want any pity. It's my problem that I'm in this situation, and it's my problem you guys even know about it._

"Frosted Cheerios, please, Teef, and a glass of water," she interrupted before Tifa could get any farther, walking stiffly to the bar and taking a seat.

Tifa didn't move, her expression only growing more sympathetic. She opened her mouth, but Yuffie wasn't about to even let her start.

"I don't wanna talk about it, alright?" she grit out, glaring at the counter. "Can we move on?"

"Look, Yuffs – " Cid started.

"Don't. Want. To talk about it! Just leave it, for Leviathan's sake!"

She closed her eyes, feeling dizzy, her headache still pounding away. _Please, just leave it._ Her words echoed for several seconds, the room silent except for the awkward shuffle of clothing. For one blessed moment, she thought that they would respect her wishes, but then Tifa started up again.

"Is there anything – "

"Oh for shit's sake – leave it! It's my problem, alright, I'll deal with it!" she yelled. Tifa stopped, but she had a determined look on her face that Yuffie had seen all too many times before and she knew her friend was far from finished. She couldn't deal with this stifling sympathy. Not right now.

"Forget it, I'll be back later," she said, not looking at anyone as she got up and walked out of the bar, only barely managing to stop herself from slamming the door behind her. To her embarrassment she felt tears on her face, and she wiped them away angrily.

She headed for the nearest back alley, feeling almost instantly more relaxed as she walked into the shadows of the buildings that towered all around. She knew the city of Edge like the back of her hand, and then some, what from gallivanting around during the DeepGround incident and her various WRO missions. After saving the world three times now, she was very grateful to have this knowledge; it allowed her to avoid crowded places, full of people who would try to thank her or shake her hand or have her bless their children. Yuffie had used to imagine that being famous and a hero would be _pure awesomeness_, partly because everyone would adore her and give her lots of shiny gifts and partly because it was something she could stick in the face of her father and show him that she had, in fact, made something of her life, with no thanks to him. Lately, however, she found herself missing her privacy and relative autonomy outside of Wutai. It made stealing things a lot more difficult when everyone knew your name and face.

These negative thoughts were not helping her mood, though the headache was thankfully starting to retreat at this point. She needed a distraction, and she knew just the thing. There was nothing like some intensive training to keep the mind off things. And she had the whole city for a challenging obstacle course, waiting and ready to provide her with something to focus on.

And Leviathan knew she needed to focus on something other than that damn arranged marriage and the fact she had just yelled at her best friend for trying to help her.

Walking until she was underneath the nearest fire escape, she closed her eyes, breathing deeply for a minute. She slowly kneeled down, then forced herself rapidly upwards, taking two springing steps from wall to wall that took her with in grasping reach of the lowest rung. Eyes narrowed in focus, a grim smile on her face at the strain in her muscles, she started to climb.

* * *

Though the door was closed quietly enough, the _shik_ of the doorknob locking back into place seemed harsh and grating. Vincent stared at the door for a moment before returning his gaze back to the rest of the room's occupants.

It was a credit to Tifa's character, he thought, that she did not look hurt but rather concerned. He figured that Tifa realized, as did he and, he hoped, everyone else, that Yuffie was more annoyed with herself than with anyone else and that no one should take her actions personally.

His gaze flickered back to the door and a slight frown crossed his face, hidden by his cloak. He was concerned she might do something foolish in her agitation, and end up getting hurt, or more likely, hurting someone else.

"Vincent."

His eyes snapped to meet Cloud's, instantly on his guard. The tone of Cloud's voice was one he hadn't heard in ages – that of a leader giving orders.

"Could you go after her, please? I don't want her to do something stupid."

So he wasn't the only one with concerns, then.

"Me?"

"Yer the only one who can put up with that brat when she's in a pissy mood," Cid snapped. Vincent's eyes narrowed, an instinctive urge to protect his friend rising in him, but he kept himself from saying anything. It appeared Cid had not taken Yuffie's rejection of sympathy as well as Tifa had.

"You can keep your mouth shut," Reno drawled. "You won't offer sympathy and you won't snap back at her."

Vincent supposed it was true enough – he had hung around Yuffie long enough that he could handle her no matter what mood she was in, though it tried even his patience at times. Shrugging, he headed out after Yuffie without further ado.

The air was bitingly fresh with a late fall chill that threatened snow. He took his time to glance around, taking in all possible routes away from the bar that Yuffie may have taken. There were numerous ways she could've gone, but if Vincent knew Yuffie as well as he thought he did she would be heading for somewhere quiet and away from people.

He headed down the nearest alley.

: :

He'd been walking for nearly half-an-hour and had yet to see a hair of Yuffie. The alleys of Edge were like a maze; with so many buildings going up and the ruins of Midgar still prominent the city had become random and unorganized.

Turning another corner and seeing no one, he growled slightly in frustration. This was hopeless – there were thousands of possible routes she could've taken at this point. He needed to search more efficiently.

Crouching down, he sprang upwards, his inhuman strength easily propelling him to the first level of a fire escape. He jogged up the stairs, the rusted metal flaking away beneath his boots.

Reaching the roof, he stopped. There was a biting wind, pulling at his cloak and hair, but his senses worked much better in the open than they had in the stifling alleyways below. He closed his eyes, drinking in all the scents and sounds the wind carried with it.

..._There._ He opened his eyes, allowing himself to relax a little. His freak abilities did have their uses. Turning into the wind, he picked up a quick run, and leapt from the roof.

* * *

She jumped, spinning, her body nearly horizontal in the air, never releasing the length of metal rod she'd picked up. Landing, she whipped the makeshift-staff right, fending off an imaginary blow before countering. The basic exercises felt strange and rough – she had been neglecting her weapons training recently, focusing only on her preferred shuriken. Her arms felt sore, unused to the weight and balance of a staff.

But the exercise was doing its job and keeping her mind off...other things.

She sensed more than heard his presence. Instincts kicking in, she ducked low, dropping the staff, and reached above her to grab the leg that was occupying the space her head had just been. Still holding on to the appendage, she swept one leg out behind her, but he was already moving, expecting the trip, leaping up so he was straight above her, driving his knee down towards her. She released his leg, rolling out of the way and flipping herself back up so she was standing.

Vincent straightened up, staring at her neutrally. He had removed his gauntlet and ditched the armour that usually covered his boots. Cerberus still hung from his hip, but he made no move to draw it.

She felt tense, waiting for him to say something, but he didn't say a word. Several silent moments passed, and just as she opened her mouth to demand what the hell he was doing here, he lunged, left hand balled into a fist.

Caught off-guard, she barely got one arm up to deflect the blow, his fist clipping her shoulder, causing her to spin awkwardly. His right hand came up blindingly fast, blowing past her off-balance attempt to block and ramming into her stomach. The wind wooshed out of her, and she fell to one knee, gasping. A blur of black announced that Vincent's foot was rapidly approaching her face, and she desperately rolled to the side, barely dodging the attack. Vincent tried for another kick, but she expected it now, adrenaline surging. Allowing the foot to go sailing past, she lunged for him, using his leg as a visual block. She locked her arm straight, swinging it into the back of his knee, causing it to buckle. He fell backwards, but still managed to direct an elbow towards her. Swearing, she dodged nimbly out of the way. He was up and standing again in a moment, arms raised in a ready stance.

"You used my leg to block my line of sight," he commented, even as he threw a roundhouse kick at her, which she easily dodged.

Yuffie was surprised to find she was smiling. "What are you doing here, Vince?" she asked, countering with a swift flurry of punches that Vincent casually blocked.

"I thought you might like a sparring partner," he said, his tone neutral.

She stopped, eyeing him, a surge of affection for her friend rising through her.

"Thanks," she muttered quietly.

He responded by aiming another punch for her face.

* * *

Vincent hid a satisfied grin as Yuffie finally held her hands up in defeat. He lowered his hands, feeling the most physical exhaustion he had since DeepGround. He felt short of breath – nothing compared to the gasping Yuffie, but for him it was a lot.

"Alright, I give up," Yuffie panted, her exhalations leaving plumes of white in the air. "I can't keep up with your super demon stamina of superness. Genetic enhancements is considered cheating in organized sports, you know, which means I won this match by default."

He cocked an eyebrow at her, not responding. He looked away out over the rooftops of Edge, but continued to study her out of the corner of his eye. The tension that had been present in her since that morning had all but faded away, leaving her looking her usual relaxed and happy self. He was not so foolish as to think the issue had disappeared just because they'd beaten on each other for an hour or so, but he was happy that he could give her even a temporary relief.

Yuffie straightened up, looking around.

"Where's all yer stuff, Vinnie?"

He gestured with a slight tilt of his head to the roof across from theirs.

Yuffie grinned the kind of grin that usually resulted in things catching on fire or materia mysteriously disappearing.

"Yuffie – " he warned, but before he could finish she had taken off, sprinting across the rooftop and leaping to the one opposite them. Her speed always impressed him – he could easy out run her in anything long distance, but when it came to short bursts she was the fastest in all of AVALNCHE. He followed after her, easily jumping the gap between buildings and landing to see Yuffie wearing his gauntlet, which looked ridiculously big on her petite hands.

"Holy crap, Vinnie, this thing is heavier than Barret! How do you wear this all day?"

"Yuffie, be careful, please, it's very sharp – "

"Yeah yeah I know," she said, waving the gauntlet around haphazardly, making Vincent extremely nervous.

"Yuffie – "

"Oh my gawd, I am _so_ trying on your metal boot cover thingers," she exclaimed, gleefully grabbing the said objects. Strapping them on with alarming speed, she straightened and struck a pose.

"I feel like Optimus Prime wearing these, Vinnie!" she cried gleefully. "Autobots, roll out," she said, her voice oddly monotone, as she stepped around jerkily.

Vincent stared at her, nonplussed.

Yuffie shot him an exasperated look. "C'mon, Vince, don't tell me you've never watched _Transformers._"

He remained silent.

She looked at him expectantly. "Well?"

"...You told me not to tell you I've never watched _Transformers."_

She frowned, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You, sir, are hopeless."

He shrugged. She ignored him, playing with his gear for a few moments.

"So now what, Vince?"

She wasn't looking at him, instead running her hands over the ridges of his gauntlet.

"It's up to you, Yuffie," he said quietly. This was her decision, not his.

"If I told you to screw off and leave me alone what would you say?" she asked, her tone light and conversational.

"I wouldn't say anything."

"What would you _do_, then?"

"I would ignore you and continue to follow you around," he replied honestly.

She grinned at him. "That's my Vinnie-Vin-Vinster." She sighed, stretching, before removing all of his gear and tossing them carelessly to the ground. He frowned at her, but she ignored it, bouncing away from him instead.

"Alrighty, off we go then. Time to follow the yellow brick road and all that."

Vincent blinked. "_The Wizard of Oz."_

Yuffie halted, spinning to stare at him incredulously.

"You get the _Wizard of Oz _reference but not the _Transformers_ reference? Geez, Vinnie, get with the _times_, man. And don't give me any of that 'I slept in a coffin for 30 years' bullshit excuse either. No one would go stay anywhere for such a long period of time without installing a flat panel TV, cable, and a massager. And a mini bar."

Vincent remained silent, content to let her chatter away. He strapped his boots back on, and slipped the gauntlet over his left hand, flexing his fingers.

"I bet you had one hell of a porno stash in there too, Vinster. And karaoke and a bread maker and a pet cockroach you named Randy who lived off of Cheetos and booze from aforementioned mini bar and you two were best friends and stayed up late telling each other secrets and giggling over boys."

"How did you know?" Vincent deadpanned.

"Oh I know _everything_, Vincent. I am, after all, the Great Ninja Yuffie, the Single White Rose of Wutai and just generally fantasmic and holy shit you just used humour didn't you I am speechless, ya know, figuratively speaking because the Great Ninja Yuffie is never truly speechless - "

Yuffie maintained a nearly ceaseless stream of onesided conversation all the way back to the bar. When they finally reached it, however, she fell silent.

He waited patiently as she stared at the door of the bar, her face unreadable. Several minutes of silence passed before she spoke.

"It's my problem, Vincent. I don't want anyone's help on this one, alright?"

He studied her carefully. He was confident he understood her reasoning. Yuffie's pride and honour as a Wutaian princess was at stake. If she could not handle this on her own, then she would see herself as unfit to rule.

"Whatever you say, Yuffie," he said quietly. She gave him a smile, before striding quickly towards the door, evidently eager to get whatever confrontation waited within done and over with. He hoped that everyone, namely Tifa and Cid, would accept Yuffie's wishes to handle this alone. If not, he would have a word with them.

His eyes never leaving Yuffie, he followed the shinobi into the bar.

* * *

He rolled the cigar between his fingers, holding it to his nose and taking a deep breath. The smell was always the best part, and was to be savoured. His father had taught him that. Among other things. Like if you want something, take it, and don't let anything get in your way.

A rough knock sounded on his door.

"Come in."

The door swung open to admit two of his men, one clutching a handheld video camera.

"Surveillance Team Three reporting in, sir."

"What is it?" he asked, the cigar forgotten.

"We got some video I think you might be interested in, sir," one said, holding out the camera. He took it, popping open the viewfinder and hitting play.

"Yuffie Kisaragi was spotted leaving the Seventh Heaven earlier this afternoon, and Surveillance Team Two reported that Vincent Valentine followed closely after. We followed at a distance, getting what footage we could. If you fast forward to about fourteen hundred hours, sir, you'll see the good stuff."

He obligingly hit the fast forward until the indicated time, hitting play once more.

He raised an eyebrow. "They're quite good, aren't they? Even that little foreign bitch."

He watched, studying the movements of the two figures in the video.

"How long does this go on?"

"A good hour, sir."

He snapped the viewfinder shut, handing it back to the men.

"Upload this and make sure you get a copy of that fight to Ivan. He wants all information on Valentine, and he wanted it yesterday. Get to it."

"Yessir." The men saluted, turning on their heel and marching out. He stared after them, before picking up the cigar once more, breathing in its scent.

It wouldn't be long now. HQ was finally moving – whatever it was they had been waiting for had arrived. And then he would get what he wanted.

And nothing would get in his way.

* * *

A/N: Alright, kinda a filler chapter, I know, but necessary to start the real plot rolling.


End file.
